The surface of a foam article can be strengthened by using fibrous material, such as tissue paper backed by fiberglass cloth, at the surface of the article and impregnating the fibrous material with the same foam used for the core of the article. My earlier patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,510,105 and 4,664,974 describe articles of this type and methods for manufacturing it. While the articles described in these patents provide relatively high strength at the surface and rigidity in the overall article, while enabling a good surface finish to be produced, there are many applications where further increase in the surface and overall article rigidity and strength are required as in surfboards, airplane wings, propellers for wind-energy machines, etc. It would be possible to stack numerous layers of fiberglass to a thickness of perhaps 1/4 inch near the surface, to be impregnated with foam, but this would add considerably to the weight of the finished article, especially for articles having a thickness of no more than a few inches and wherein opposite faces of the article are both reforced. A foam article which had a further reinforcement of the foam-impregnated fibrous layer near the surface to increase the surface and overall article rigidity and strength, while minimally increasing the weight of the article, would be of considerable value.